NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – We are hearing from concerned residents and business owners in Northampton, who are asking the city to run a traffic study on the proposed changes to Main Street sparking controversy, before making any final decisions.
Those changes would include one travel lane in each direction, bike lanes on both sides of the entire project, as well as widened sidewalks. Construction would also entail the removal of trees and 57 on-street parking spaces.
Concerned residents argue losing those spaces would limit the accessibility of Main Street for people with disabilities. They also told us that these proposed plans are similar to when the city temporarily narrowed Main Street in 2020, which was removed early after receiving complaints, ranging from public safety concerns to functionality.
“If they run the trial run and find that there are more cyclist accidents, pedestrian cyclist accidents, then they can make tweaks to it before its permanent,” said Attorney John DiBartolo.
Owner of Herrell’s Ice Cream, Judy Herrell, tells 22News, “You’ll notice with two lanes in each direction, there is congestion and there is back up traffic. If they make that one lane in each direction, I really worry that people will by pass Northampton.”
22News has reached out to the mayor’s office about these concerns, and we will provide their statement once we hear back.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 providing local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Follow 22News on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
